Games you love, Broken Down

[FakeSympathy]

My favorite game of recent years is probably Witcher 3:

Pros:
An actual mature dark fantasy.
Gorgeous graphics even on consoles (bite me)
Amazing Music
Crafting. SO. MUCH.
Fully fleshed out NPCS and Geralt himself
Triss/Yen's love must be earned, unlike a certain game where you can fuck any woman you see (I am looking at you, Ride to Hell)
16 free dlcs that aren't pre-order bonuses nor $5 cash-grab craps.
Expansion packs that aren't simple extra maps and guns, but adds so much gameplay.
Amazing Story
Gwent

Cons:
Hit-or-miss combat system(default)
Crossbow only useful in certain situation
Cheap fall damage
Some monsters are actually powered-up versions of their regular counterpart
Those items you'll only use once and has no sale values.
Underwater combat is just.....
This game has officially set high standards, and no game so far has come close to reaching those standards

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

SNIP

In my defense the game is a decade old. So if you haven't played it by now, you are a bad person.

2 decades...

2007 yes?

 

[Irwin126]

SNIP

In my defense the game is a decade old. So if you haven't played it by now, you are a bad person.

2 decades...

2007 yes?

Ahh my bad. I thought you were referring to FF7 when you quoted CriticalGaming.

 

[Cycloptomese]

SNIP

In my defense the game is a decade old. So if you haven't played it by now, you are a bad person.

2 decades...

2007 yes?

Ahh my bad. I thought you were referring to FF7 when you quoted CriticalGaming.

You guys just freaked me out. I was all like "THERE'S NO WAY BIOSHOCK IS TWENTY YEARS OLD!! I CAN'T BE THAT OLD!!!"...

 

[Battenberg]

Resident Evil 4, my favourite game of all time.

Spoiler: Pros

Pros
-The gameplay. A big innovation compared to previous Resi games as it still makes you feel vulnerable without also making it impossible to actually do anything quickly and forcing you to stare at the same few patches of crapet 90% of the time.
-The inventory system. Speaks for itself, still better than most inventory systems used by games today.
-Great horror atmosphere. You are almost always surrounded by creepiness and a sense of unease during the gameplay.
-The level design. From a gameplay perspective the maps are just excellent imo laid out with enough hidden corners to always keep you guessing which ones actually have an ambush waiting in them and puzzles that are used sparingly and generally reward you quite well for solving them.
-The soundtrack. This is one aspect of the game doesn't get enough love as far as I'm concerned. Everything from the slightly hammy voice acting to the sounds of the enemies to the foreboding ambient music to the distinctive sounds each and every weapon makes when being fired or reloaded is just perfect. Every single noise you hear is well executed and serves a purpose with nothing going to waste. Admittedly heard separated form the game it's nothing special like Bastion or Assassin's Creed's soundtrack but as part of the collective game experience it works so well.
-The cheesy over the top story and dialogue. I love that the whole thing is so self aware and takes the cutscenes as opportunities to inject some humour into the game
-The graphics. For their time (way back in 2005) they were excellent
-Replay value. The main campaign doesn't have choices which impact the story but it does new game plus modes, a wide enough selection of guns to allow for variety on multiple playthroughs, and a few sections of the game which change depending on the difficulty you choose. What's more there's a second, smaller campaign which is decent enough (not as good as the main story but not bad by any means) and the excellent mercenaries mini-game which is kind of a survival mode with a score system and multiple characters and levels to choose from for added variety.
-The characters. A vast and memorable cast who are distinct in their appearnces, voices, and personalities. From the protagonist to many members of the supporting cast (special mention to the merchant - "whaddya buyin' stranger") these characters will stick with you well after you finish the game.

Spoiler: Cons

Cons
-The gameplay. Starting this trend early but it's a bit of a double edged sword in that while it was indeed innovative at the time people who are totally new to the game may find it feel fairly stilted. Takes a fair bit of getting used to as well so requires more commitment from the player than a lot of games.
-The graphics. Again while they were great at the time they are somewhat dated now. Personally I think they held up ok but I think there's a large element of nostalgia driving that and again if you were just trying the game now it would probably be a bit offputting.
-The cheesy over the top story and dialogue. Once again while I like this aspect for some people it will absolutely be a con and it'll take them out the action, especially people coming to this game looking for a pure horror experience.
-Certain sections do drag on/ feel like a chore. As a whole the game is great but there are certain areas and fights that I often just don't want to bother with because they either go too slowly or they're too caught up in the action side of things which leads me onto the last point.
-Quicktime events. This was the first game I played that wove QTEs into both cutscenes and midway through gameplay. There's a few occasions that use them well (including an epic knife fight and somersaulting through a corridor full of lasers.) but by and large I found them to be a nuisance right from the first playthrough. Unfortunately they crop up a lot and can't be avoided.
-The final boss fight. The final boss fight was something of a letdown for me. Mechanically you don't get much variety in how it progresses and you won't get to utilise the arsenal of weapons you've built up particularly well.

Spoilered because I go on a bit when it comes to Resi 4, no actual spoilers in either list.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Elite Dangerous

Pros
-you have a spaceship - here's the galaxy...
-great ship handling and variety
-looks incredible if you're a spacey nerd
-virtual space tourism FTW (take a trip around our actual solar system, or head out to the Pleiades)
-utterly unique
-great sound design
-...[proud] console peasants like me can actually play the damn thing
-simple things like docking at stations, landing, and messing around with FA-off never get old
-the closest I'll ever get to the whole 'living in space' thing
-you can now get interdicted by aliens (apparently. they're clearly terrified of me and my combat-not-ready Diamondback Explorer)
-iterative game design spanning years (Commanders goes live by April 16th)

Cons
-iterative game design spans years...
-the grind is mostly optional, but it's sure as hell there
-only looks incredible if you're a spacey nerd
-many of the ideas are still underdeveloped
-not a lot of love for the explorers of the Elite community
-let me walk around my ship already, damn it!
-our species may go extinct before they add landing on atmospheric worlds
-FDev just can't help themselves monetize all the cosmetic customisation
-needs more intermediate tier ships
-perhaps eternally unique - at least on console

 

[Trunkage]

There isn't a particular game that I love. I picked Skyrim becuase ni one else did.

Pros:
You are allowed to be who you want. Compare to Baulders Gate, Witcher or Dragon Age - you have to role play a type of character. In Elder Scrolls, you can easily transfer between warrior, mage or thief. Or you can be all three at the same time leading to a lot of interesting gameplay
Modular design to open world. You can explore in any direction. You aren't punished. Compare to Fallout NV where you are forced to go a certain way and are punished for stepping outside the rails.
You can use spells, weapons and shield at the same time and it is easy to change up your tactics.
The various major factions have a long history together and they have very strong motivations.
Your choices matter. The diplomatic mission Season Unending has so many ways that it can turn out depending on a lot of choices. Unlike any other game, these very disparate groups put aside hire difference to achieve a common goal.
Subtle storytelling. Places like Rorikstead or Winterhold come to mind.
The console commands can fix any problems.
There are lots of cities that has lots to do.
Massive quests like the crown of Benezariah or the Dragon Priest masks

Cons
You can't be who you want to be. You are stopped from killing people who are relevant to quests. Daggerfall had you randomly failing quests becuase you killed someone randomly 40 hrs earlier. Morrowind said you'd break the prophecy (which was the most egregious. How do you know so much about this prophecy that you can tell whose important to fulfil on it? But you don't know the word Nevarine.) All three are bad, and I don't know a game that has fixed his problem.
Modular design. Everything feels unconnected. There aren't specific areas that are challenging and you have to come back to.
Spells are not epic. Becuase the damage has to be compared to a weapon, they are toned down. You don't get to build your own (but the game isn't broken by your spell creation so that good)
Minor factions are uninteresting.
Your choices don't matter. No one from the game helps you with the final battle becuase you aided them earlier. When you finish a quest, they don't change anything on the map. (For example, picking a side in the civil doesn't change much about that city except it gets rid of a leader)
A greater portion of the story telling feels like they are using a hammer instead of a chisel
That there is a need for console commands I.e. To fix bugs.
There are hardly any villages and The Pale seems really undeveloped.
A lot of repetitiveness. But then I thought Witcher 3 was really repetative

There's more but I've had enough

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I've got another one since I have a lot of love to give to my games collection:

Metroid Fusion
Pro:
This game felt really focused and has a great narrative
The X parasites make it possible to bring back past/dead enemies
This is a great looking GBA game
SA-X is one of the most threatening Nintendo villains
Nightmare
The boss fights in general are really, really good

Con:
This is the first game where Samus gets dull monologues
Adam is introduced in this game
This game isn't truly open, the worst part being...
...There are points of no return